AAA sued for denying Bushkill woman towing service contract

Friday

May 25, 2007 at 12:35 AMMay 25, 2007 at 12:48 AM

Debra Lamar-Igein of Bushkill is suing AAA of Northeast Pennsylvania and its representative for denying her a towing service contract, claiming they did so because she's black and a woman. Lamar-Igein says she was told, among other things, that she had to meet certain criteria, which white male contractors apparently didn't have to meet.

ANDREW SCOTT

SCRANTON — A Bushkill woman is suing AAA of Northeast Pennsylvania and its representative for discrimination, claiming the agency denied her a contract to provide towing service because she's black and a woman.

And she gathered some of the evidence for her lawsuit through her own "sting" operation, by having her husband take a job with another company that applied for and got a AAA contract.

Debra Lamar-Igein, who filed the lawsuit May 9 in federal court in Scranton — with no attorney — says AAA area coordinator Arnie Lotz turned her down when she expressed interest in applying for a contract in November 2005.

Lamar-Igein says Lotz told her she had to meet certain criteria and that CHC Motors of Marshalls Creek is the only towing service in Monroe and Pike counties that has had and will ever have a AAA contract. When contacted Wednesday, CHC employees said other area towing companies have AAA contracts. Lamar-Igein says she investigated for more than a year afterward and found towing services run by white men have received AAA contracts without being required to meet the criteria she was told she had to meet.

Lamar-Igein's suit identifies Pocono Shell Repair/Pocono Friendly Towing, owned by a white man with the last name Mestecky, and located at 5243 Milford Road in East Stroudsburg (the Bushkill area, not the borough).

No such business is listed in the 2006-2007 Monroe/Pike County phone directory.

A Frank Mestecky of Milford is listed in the phone book, but was not home Wednesday. It's not known if this is the same Mestecky who owns Pocono Shell Repair/Pocono Friendly Towing.

The rest of the suit alleges the following occurred:

In December 2006, Lamar-Igein's husband, Abudu John Igein applied for and got a job at Pocono Shell Repair as a repair mechanic technician, earning $100 a week.

Mestecky was awarded a AAA contract without having to meet any requirements or even a face-to-face with anyone from AAA. The agency didn't even investigate to learn why his previous contract had been canceled. This contradicted what Lotz allegedly told Lamar-Igein about AAA awarding contracts to no one other than CHC.

After getting the new contract, Mestecky trained Abudu Igein as a tow truck driver, after which Igein's weekly pay rose from $100 to $350. In January 2007, New Jersey state police stopped and cited Igein for tow truck violations such as having no mud guard.

"This shows Mr. Lotz never checked the Pocono Friendly Towing truck for the requirements he asked the plaintiff to have," the suit states.

Sometime after he was cited (the suit doesn't say when), Abudu Igein had his sister, a Maryland resident, apply for a towing service contract in that state. She requested and was given a contract application form, proving "Mr. Lotz knowingly fails to follow directions and maliciously gave the plaintiff information contrary to AAA rules and regulations."

Lotz did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

"AAA denies the allegation and has turned it over to (legal) counsel," agency spokesman Craig Smith of the Scranton office said Wednesday.

Lamar-Igein said she is seeking an attorney.

In a prepared statement e-mailed to The Pocono Record, Abudu Igein said, "This is not only about color discrimination. It addresses discrimination against all women. The Poconos should embrace changes. This is the 21st century for crying out loud."

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